Qari Esmhatulla
Qari Esmhatulla is a citizen of Afghanistan who was held in the United States Guantanamo Bay detainment camps, in Cuba. detainees ARB|ARB_Transcript_Set_1_395-584.pdf#1}} Summarized transcripts (.pdf) from Qari Esmhatulla's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 1-7 Qari Esmhatulla was captured in Afghanistan in March 2002 and transferred to Afghanistan on October 11, 2006. Esmhatulla's Guantanamo Internment Serial Number was 591.list of prisoners (.pdf), US Department of Defense, May 15, 2006 The Department of Defense's official list of detainee names released on May 15, 2006 estimates that Esmhatulla was born in 1984 in Ramsha, Pakistan. The Associated Press filed Freedom of Information Act requests to learn the identity of the Guantanamo detainees.Pentagon releases more Guantanamo detainee names, The Jurist, May 15, 2006 And the DoD filed appeals so they could deny those requests. The DoD exhausted their appeals. US District Court Justice Jed Rakoff issued a court order to the DoD giving them a deadline of 6pm March 3, 2006. The DoD complied by releasing 5,000 pages of transcripts from detainee's Combatant Status Review Tribunals and Administrative Review Board hearings. Identity Most of the transcripts did not contain the detainee's name, referring to them only by their detainee ID number. Esmhatulla was one of the very few detainee's whose name was mentioned during the course of his transcript. So he was one of the first detainee's whose case was summarized in the press.Guantanamo Bay: The testimony, BBC, March 4, 2006Sketches of Guantanamo detainees-Part I, The State, March 15, 2006 Those reports quoted Esmhatulla testifying that he served with the Taliban for just four days, and that he joined up to help his fellow Pashtun speaker fight the Persian speaking tribes from the north, where the Northern Alliance was based, that he had not joined to fight Americans. Guantanamo counter-terrorism analysts estimate that Esmhatulla was born in 1984. He stated he was only sixteen when he was captured. Combatant Status Review Tribunal s were held in a trailer the size of a large RV. The captive sat on a plastic garden chair, with his hands and feet shackled to a bolt in the floor.Guantánamo Prisoners Getting Their Day, but Hardly in Court, New York Times, November 11, 2004 - mirrorInside the Guantánamo Bay hearings: Barbarian "Justice" dispensed by KGB-style "military tribunals", Financial Times, December 11, 2004 Three chairs were reserved for members of the press, but only 37 of the 574 Tribunals were observed. ]] Initially the Bush administration asserted that they could withhold all the protections of the Geneva Conventions to captives from the war on terror. This policy was challenged before the Judicial branch. Critics argued that the USA could not evade its obligation to conduct a competent tribunals to determine whether captives are, or are not, entitled to the protections of prisoner of war status. Subsequently the Department of Defense instituted the Combatant Status Review Tribunals. The Tribunals, however, were not authorized to determine whether the captives were lawful combatants -- rather they were merely empowered to make a recommendation as to whether the captive had previously been correctly determined to match the Bush administration's definition of an enemy combatant. Esmhatullat chose to participate in his Combatant Status Review Tribunal.detainees ARB|Set_52_3643-3869.pdf#165}} Summarized transcripts (.pdf), from Qari Esmhatulla's Combatant Status Review Tribunal - pages 165-173 Testimony Esmatullat testified that he was approached, at a funeral, by two members of the Taliban. They dared him to join them in fighting against the Uzbeks in the Northern Alliance, who were approaching. When he told them he didn't know how to fight they said he could be a cook. He agreed, and spent the night in a madrassa, with some other recruits. The madrassa was bombed that night, and he was slightly injured. He asked the two recruiters, the next day, if they were leaving. When he was told they were not leaving that day, he left, and started walking home. His trip home, by foot, took him three days. He spent one night in a broken down truck, and another in an abandoned village. He didn't see a living soul on his entire trip, although he saw some dead bodies. He also came across a Sony radio and some hand grenades, which he picked up, because he thought he might be able to sell them, although he didn't know how to use them. When he arrived at his village the Northern Alliance were already there. He dropped the grenades and bowed to the soldiers. They captured him. In Bagram he was told the radio was not the kind you used for listening to music, but was the kind you use for talking. Esmatullat said all the allegations against him, other than that he was captured carrying hand grenades, and a radio, were untrue. Esmatullat said the only time he had ever held a weapon was at a wedding, where he was allowed to fire three rounds in the air.In Guantanamo Bay Documents, Prisoners Plead for Release: U.S. Makes First Public Accounting Of Detainees, Washington Post, March 5, 2006 Administrative Review Board hearing | pages= 1 | author=Spc Timothy Book | date=Friday March 10, 2006 | accessdate=2007-10-12 }}]] Detainees who were determined to have been properly classified as "enemy combatants" were scheduled to have their dossier reviewed at annual Administrative Review Board hearings. The Administrative Review Boards weren't authorized to review whether a detainee qualified for POW status, and they weren't authorized to review whether a detainee should have been classified as an "enemy combatant". They were authorized to consider whether a detainee should continue to be detained by the United States, because they continued to pose a threat—or whether they could safely be repatriated to the custody of their home country, or whether they could be set free. The factors for and against continuing to detain Esmhatullah were among the 121 that the Department of Defense released on March 3, 2006.Factors for and against the continued detention (.pdf) of Qari Esmhatulla Administrative Review Board - page 77 The following primary factors favor continued detention The following primary factors favor release or transfer Transcript Esmhatullat chose to participate in his Administrative Review Board hearing.detainees ARB|ARB_Transcript_Set_1_395-584.pdf}} Summarized transcripts (.pdf) from Qari Esmhatulla's Administrative Review Board hearing - pages 1-7 See also * Minors detained in the War on Terror References External links * The Pentagon Can’t Count: 22 Juveniles Held at Guantánamo Andy Worthington Category:Living people Category:1984 births Category:Bagram Theater Internment Facility detainees Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Guantanamo detainees known to have been released Category:Juveniles held at the Guantanamo Bay detention camp